Ebbing
by Oparu
Summary: Emma realizes Regina is stressed about something and tries to help. Regina discovers that talking about things that bother her actually do make her feel better. (Dragon Outlaw Queen, bottomless sea 'verse part 5). Emma & Regina friendship.


"I brought you coffee," Emma says, setting the huge paper cup down on her desk. "I don't know if it'll help, because I don't know what's bothering you, but I'm here. I'll listen, or be your drinking buddy. Whatever you need."

Regina takes the coffee, wrapping her fingers around it because the heat is soothing, even with summer arriving slowly outside. She shuts her eyes, sets down her pen and looks up at Emma. "What makes you think I need something?"

"You're stressed," Emma says, leaning forward. "You're too stressed to even be annoyed when the town council is incompetent, which we are, often, because we're trying to run a small town with a weird mix of cursed knowledge and old-world politics that might fit better in Game of Thrones. Speaking of which, Henry says you're three episodes behind now and he and Lily have to come watch with Killian and I because Lily doesn't have cable. Not that I mind the company, but you used to love watching it with them."

Emma sips her own coffee and grins across the desk. She's so calm, so at ease. Regina can't help remembering when they hated each other's presence so much that their breathing was annoying. "Though watching a show with dragons is much more interesting with a real dragon, because no one overanalyzes how dragons would affect a war quite like a dragon. Lily says Maleficent knows more, that she talks about how to properly attack a castle."

Regina has to smile at that, because Mal does, and it's hilarious watching it with her, and Robin, because he can't stop discussing the assassins and the archery, and the dishonor left and right. "She does, and you really should ask her about it sometime. She'll happily tell you."

They sit in silence for a moment, Regina trying to place the kind of coffee Emma brought her.

"Light roast, half and half," Emma says, nodding at the coffee. "Most people like it." She glances down, then looks back up at Regina. "Maleficent wouldn't mind? I thought, I guess I thought she wouldn't like me very much."

Regina rolls the coffee over her tongue and swallows, wishing she could ease Emma's guilt. "Because your darkness is in Lily?"

Fidgeting with the little paper sleeve around her cup, Emma nods. "And my parents took Lily, for me."

"Which isn't your fault," Regina insists. She sets down her coffee and reaches for Emma, squeezing her hand. "Mal knows that. She doesn't hold grudges."

Chuckling, Emma squeezes her hand back, just a little. "Which makes her the only person in this town who doesn't swear revenge on everyone who has wronged them."

Regina nods, then smiles because Mal's heart is a precious wonder. Emma will understand that eventually. "I think you're right."

Emma studies her, leaning closer again. "Is that why you love her?"

For a moment, Regina holds her breath, because speaking about love is dangerous, but it's not. Love, all the love she's overwhelmed with now, has made her stronger. Her family is so much more complicated than she ever thought it could be, and bigger, and it's worth it. "It's complicated."

Patting her boot, Emma smirks. "I brought a flask, if it's that kind of complicated."

"No, not bad," Regina answers, taking a moment to think. Emma's smile makes it so easy to smile back, and her heart aches, brimming with so much affection that she can barely breathe around it. "I loved her before, when I was halfway to losing myself, and I let her go once, put revenge first, and then she was dead, and I didn't even grieve."

Emma's green eyes stay on hers, steady, patient and she finds words, somehow.

"When Maleficent returned from the dead, Robin was gone, and I fell right back where I was, in love with her in a messy, reckless sort of way."

Emma smiles in that easy way of hers, almost like she's proud. "That's unlike you."

"I told myself it was cover, I was just trying to help, and it wasn't, couldn't be because I was so raw about losing Robin, so unguarded." Perhaps that was why it happened. She hadn't shielded her heart, hadn't held herself back, and that led to this child. "When Robin returned too, I couldn't stop."

"Hey, no judgement!" Emma says, lifting her hands. "You have a boyfriend, and a girlfriend, and it looks like it's going pretty good. They're cute together whenever I see them, and you're pretty cute with them."

"You are aware you just referred to the scary dragon bitch and the greatest thief in the Enchanted Forest, as cute?"

Emma continues to beam at her. "You clearly haven't seem them at the playground with Roland."

"Not as much as I'd like," Regina agrees. She shifts her paperwork, then slides it aside. She can do it tomorrow. Nothing with be harmed by her having some time before she needs to start dinner.

Watching the papers get set aside, Emma smiles, full of approval. "You've been working a lot."

"I've always worked a great deal," Regina reminds her. She takes another sip of her coffee, wishing it was cool enough that she could gulp it down. Burying a yawn, she shakes her head. "It's worse now. I don't remember being this tired since Henry was teething."

Emma lifts her coffee, almost like a shield. "Good tired?"

"Sheriff Swan, I hardly think that's appropriate." Regina licks her lips, and spends half a second wondering if Emma really does want to know. They're not that kind of friends, yet. Ever. She glances down, moving her pen to a more secure place on her desk. "Mal has nightmares, or Robin does, or me. There's plenty of trauma to go around."

"Having someone there when you wake up helps, doesn't it?" Emma grabs her pen when it starts to roll away and sets it down, still.

"It does when the dreams are irrational." She reaches down for her briefcase, and sets that on the desk next to her coffee. "Harder when they're more realistic."

"We're safe for the moment," Emma says. She points to the much smaller than usual pile of paperwork from the Sheriff's station. "Maybe it's about time we all had a couple weeks to breath and work things out. Figure out what our lives are like when there isn't a crisis."

"The quiet has been useful."

Regina starts to pack up, trying to remind herself not to bring too much home because she never gets it all done. She'll be back tomorrow, and probably Saturday. She should take Emma's advice and get an assistant before she burns herself out, especially with a baby coming. She barely managed Henry and Storybrooke before, and part of that was made easier by the curse. None of the other people in the town knew time was passing, and there was so much she could ignore, but now, change is constant and Storybrooke needs her guidance.

"Does Maleficent get migraines?" Emma asks, startling Regina out of her thoughts.

Regina stops moving papers into their proper places and looks up. "What?"

Emma sets down her coffee and leans forward, laying out her theory. "I just, well, I get them too, and I thought watching her, not that I've been, not-" she stops, then tries again. "I thought she might be dangerous. Everyone else is so focused on revenge that I thought if she was like-"

"Me," Regina adds for her.

"Yeah, sorry."

Waving her hand in dismissal, Regina has to smile. "Mal's different. She lives in the moment and revenge doesn't suit her. It wouldn't help her or Lily be happy."

"I figured that, eventually," Emma says, her face slightly flushed. "But watching her, I couldn't help noticing that she gets a lot of headaches, and the last few times she's been in Granny's she seemed really sick to her stomach, and Robin seemed pretty concerned, and yesterday, she was with Marian and I. well I couldn't help overhearing their discussion about ginger tea with Ruby, and I thought maybe she wouldn't know what they are, because she's not human, but I could help, if that's it. I don't have too, maybe she wouldn't even want to talk-"

"Emma," Regina says, helping her stop rambling. "Emma, Mal would willingly talk to you at length about many subjects, and if she had migraines, I'm sure she'd be happy to take your advice."

Emma tilts her head and her hair falls in soft curls on her shoulder. It's funny how hatred can melt into such fondness. She wanted her gone so badly once, and now, she's a friend Regina would never do without.

"She's a very interesting person, when she's a person. So different than anyone else I've loved. She doesn't have any shields, no walls. She's just there and I loved her before, when I was halfway to losing myself, and I let her go, put revenge first, and then she was dead, and I didn't even grieve."

Emma's green eyes stay on hers, steady, patient. She sits back, watching Regina take her time to pack up. "So it's going okay, the three of you? The outlaw boyfriend and the dragon girlfriend not getting along isn't the reason you've arranged your papers three times?" Emma tilts her head towards the papers on the desk. "You wanna talk about what is before the next crisis hits us?"

Mal being pregnant isn't a crisis, both her and Robin would remind Regina of that, but her chest still aches when she thinks too long and she eats without thinking, just like she does when they're in danger. She can't focus, and Emma noticed, which means everyone else will before long. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she rests her hands flat next to her briefcase so she can't fidget.

"There is something," Regina begins. She can find the words for this. This is a good thing, Emma will be happy, probably, she likes kids.

Emma smiles again, all encouragement, of course.

"I told you that I wasn't sure how, exactly, Maleficent and I had created Lily, or how Mal was able to get pregnant, considering we're not the same species, and I-"

Leaving her chair, Emma circles the desk and leans on it, right next to Regina. "I remember you drank that potion, because your mother-"

Regina nods and she looks up at Emma. As ridiculous as it is, she can't stop smiling. "Maleficent's pregnant, again, and her child, well, it's mine."

"Congratulations!" Emma says immediately, and she leans down, beaming. Her hand rests on Regina's shoulder. "That's great."

She must be making a face because Emma squeezes her shoulder and continues.

"And kind of terrifying, right? You're going to be a mom again, and you're good at it, so that's exciting and how's she doing? Is she excited? Is Robin? Is being pregnant giving her those headaches? Toast helps, there's that funny cinnamon kind old ladies get, and I ate that a lot when I was pregnant with Henry because they had it in the commissary and-" She stops and starts to pull back her hand, but Regina stops her., covering her hand with her own.

"She's much sicker than she was with Lily, which is something to be worried about. She doesn't see it that way, of course." Regina turns, needing to look at her. She hasn't talked about this with anyone other than Robin, Mal, and Henry and Emma's neutral. Emma can listen, and she doesn't mind.

"I suppose they don't really have a book for 'what to do when you knocked up your dragon'?"

Regina has to laugh. "That would be helpful. I've found some ancient texts that mention the birth of dragons in Swedish folklore, but they're not a part of the tales derived from our land."

"And in Swedish?" Emma asks.

"Yes."

Emma nods, and pats her again before she takes back her hand. "Do you read Swedish?"

"It can be done, with magic, but it's time consuming." She rubs her temples and sighs. "I really need to convince her to see Whale and let him run the tests for this world on her. She's completely against it, of course, and I can't blame her, hospitals, doctors, none of that makes any sense to her and she's- well, she's-"

"Feeling pretty vulnerable, I imagine."

"Yes, very." She stands, trying to convince herself to go home and to again have the conversation with Mal and Robin where she explains how much better she'd feel if they'd just let Whale use this world's magic to make sure the baby, and Maleficent, are okay. "How'd you know?"

"It's a scary thing at the best of times, so I thought even a dragon..." Emma stops, shrugging. "You know, I find that kind of comforting."

"Oh?"

"Even a dragon, and you, supermom, are freaked out by being pregnant, gives us mere mortals some hope."

Regina studies her face, wondering if there's a chance Emma might decide to have another child, someday. That'll be an interesting conversation, certainly. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"I mean it, thank you, you listened, and, it helped."

"Funny how that is," Emma says, shutting her briefcase for her. "You say what's bothering you out loud and it's less terrifying. I'm awful at it when it's me, but pretty good at the listening end, if you decide you need a drink."

Folding her hands around her briefcase handle, Regina nods. "I might."

"You know where to find me," Emma promises. "And hey, I'm happy for you, and her, and Robin, Lily, and the boys. This is exciting."

"Thanks."

"Kid's going to be so spoiled."

"She will not be," Regina insists, heading for the door with Emma behind her. "I'll make sure."

"See, supermom. I told you."


End file.
